Don't Stand So Close
by Final Saturn
Summary: AU. No senshi. When forced together as student and substitute teacher, Serena and Darien realize their feelings for each other are more complex than that of enemies.
1. Young Teacher

-1Serena Tsukino was lying on her bed with a cat curled up at her side and her pink phone glued to her ear.

"Why? What happened, Molly?" she squealed anxiously. This reaction, usually reserved for news about the latest Crossroads High School heartthrob, was in response to the probably lengthy absence of their teacher. The cat stirred, looking annoyed; Serena stroked her absently.

"Well, Melvin says that she finally got married, Serena. Isn't that great?" Molly said. Her voice told of the stars in her eyes. She was thinking of true love and happily ever afters.

"Yeah, that's wonderful! She'll have to go on a honeymoon!" Serena on the other hand was thinking of fewer afternoons spent in detention and more at the arcade. "Oh, that poor guy," she said in a still happy tone.

"Serena," Molly groaned.

"You're not the one who gets to spend so much quality time with her. It was so nice of her to runoff on Wednesday night," Serena responded.

"Now that she's got a guy, maybe she won't be so moody all the time."

"Yeah, she's got like 24-7 PMS or something. I bet now she'll only be mad when she doesn't get any," Serena replied.

"Serena!" Molly exclaimed. They laughed.

"I wonder who the sub'll be," Serena stated after she calmed down.

"Probably that crazy old bat we had last time," Molly said with a giggle.

"I hope not. Her looks alone scared me into being on time for a week," Serena said only half jokingly. Everyday, the woman in question wore over-large, horn-rimmed glasses, dresses with red floral print, and baggy stockings with her hair pulled severely into a bun. Her bright red, slightly smeared lipstick often found its way onto her teeth.

"Yeah, it was her personality that did it for me. I don't think she was all there," Molly replied. At the time, one student had been overheard to describe her as being like an "80-year-old gladiator turned cat lady."

"Definitely a few chapters short of a Manga," Serena agreed. "Maybe we'll get someone new."

"Maybe, I guess we'll find out. My mom has to use the phone. See you tomorrow, Babe," Molly said.

"Bye, Moll." Serena hung up. "Did you hear that, Luna? No detentions!" She scratched the cat behind the ears. "Hopefully she'll be gone a long while. Maybe she went to Antarctica or something for her honeymoon." She figured that was probably hoping too much, but a girl can dream. Serena turned out the light and settled down to sleep.

--

In an attempt to see the substitute first, Serena got to school ten minutes early. She, of course, had no such luck, seeing as ten minutes early was the norm for most students. Everyone was already in their desks, and no teacher was present. Serena took her seat and immediately turned to Melvin, who was proven to be the knower of all things gossip worthy. "What's going on?"

Melvin pushed up his glasses. "Mr. Greene is supposed to be introducing the sub. It seems he heard about what happened to the last one."

Serena grinned, remembering how she and her classmates had done everything they could to annoy "the Gladiator" without letting her find out who it was. It had been great to see her pull gum off her elbow while glaring at the whole class. The woman had deserved it, though, in Serena's scholarly opinion. She was weird and obsessively straightened the classroom. Serena had watched her aligning the desks with the floor tiles once. Her reverie was interrupted by a bell, and the class fell silent.

A few minutes later, a shadow appeared at the window before the superintendent walked in. He was quite round in the middle and had very little hair on his head. The red shade of his tie nearly matched his cheeks at times, especially after laughter, which he always seemed to be on the brink of.

"I expect you to show the utmost respect to the person that has agreed to take Ms. Haruna's place on such short notice. He is a college student, who is certified as a substitute. He was chosen specifically for the fact that he seems like a person you would listen to. Not only that, he promised that he's mean. None of the funny business we had last time, or there will be consequences." The superintendent glared around the room, which made him look almost comical. "He will be here in a few moments."

True to the superintendent's words, the substitute teacher walked in exactly two minutes later. The students greeted him with hurried whispers and even a few appreciative sighs. He walked to the desk and placed a red planner, identical to the one every other teacher has, on it. He turned sharply to the board and chose a marker. He then wrote "Mr. Shields" in large, neat letters in the center of the board.

Serena looked him up and down from his Nike tennis shoes and khakis to his pretty blue eyes and black hair. She noted that he wasn't wearing the ugly green blazer he always wore, instead opting for a navy sweater. Though she was more than willing to admire the way it showed off his frame, she assumed he wore it just to make a good first impression by seeming stylish to her peers; the jacket would soon reappear.

Mr. Shields turned and surveyed the class. Serena noticed that his eyes widened slightly at his notice of her, but he quickly masked the emotion. "He is mean, all right, and I'm not gonna listen to him just because he's playing teacher. I thought he wanted to be a doctor," Serena thought in annoyance. "Probably decided to switch to education on the off chance that he might someday be able to make my life hell."

"Ms. Haruna has taken several personal days. Until she returns, you're stuck with me. I won't bother to tell you my name as you all can read, or so I hope," Darien said. Noticing the glance in her direction, Serena glared.

Darien sat down and opened the planner. He looked at it for a few moments before looking back at the class. "Can anyone tell me exactly what you are reading in the literature book?" he asked. Almost every girl in the class raised her hand, excluding Amy and Serena, the later of whom had crossed her arms and was scowling. "Miss Anderson, would it be possible for you to fill me in?"

The girls looked jealously at Amy. The genius, however, merely nodded. "We're supposed to begin reading the excerpt from uThe Grapes of Wrath/u by John Steinbeck," she replied.

Mr. Shields flipped open his copy of the literature book. He glanced back at the planner. "Please read starting on page 318 and complete the questions on 330 for tomorrow." He began making notes when the class, the part that wasn't comprised of swooning girls, started their assignment.

Serena began to read the assigned chapter. There was no way she was giving the king of jerks a chance to pick on her. "Not that you would really mind," an inner voice goaded. She felt her ears turn pink. It was bad enough that things like that came to her when she was alone, but it was terrible that it happened in the middle of class and right in front of the guy.

As she continued to read, her eyelids began to droop, and she struggled to keep them open. "I won't get detention from a sub," she thought distantly as her head dropped into her book.

--

Serena was in the middle of the Crown Arcade. It was after school, the time she always visited. The strange thing was that the place was deserted. She looked around in confusion and realized that even Andrew wasn't there. She heard the doors slide open and turned to see Darien. Serena was getting more confused by the second. She didn't mind being alone with Darien. At least she'd have someone around to talk to, if being annoyed counted as talking. Darien walked up to her without saying a word. He put his arms around her waist and leaned over as if he was going to kiss her. Shocked by this action, she gasped, "Darien."

--

About ten minutes after giving the assignment, Darien became aware that there was light snoring coming from somewhere nearby. He looked up and, sure enough, saw that Serena was the source of the noise. He forced down the evil smile that threatened to cross his face. As terrible as it was, he could never pass up an opportunity to tease the girl. He knew it was childish, but her reactions were always so amusing. Plus, the pout she wore when angry was cute. Darien frowned the thought away.

As he stood from the desk, Darien's frown remained in place. He had realized that this was grounds for detention, which he would be forced to give if he wanted to remain in control of the classroom. This first day was no time to show leniency. Detention for her meant a late day for him, as well.

Moving to stand behind Serena, Darien felt the class watching him. He heard the girl murmur something. Had his face been visible to the room, they would have seen a range of emotions play across his face. "Did she just say my name?" he wondered. Though he wasn't entirely sure, he made a mental note to harass her about it later. Whether or not it was true, she'd be embarrassed. There was definitely a possibility that she could turn it around him, but Darien decided that she wouldn't be quick to do so.

Darien leaned down so that his mouth was just inches from Serena's ear. "If you'd be so kind as to grace us with your presence, Miss Tsukino," he said quite loudly. A few people snickered when Serena practically jumped out of her desk. Straightening, Darien told them to get back to work.

"I am present," Serena grumbled, craning her neck to glare at him.

"I'm aware that you are physically present. It's your presence of mind that I'm concerned about. I'll see you in detention, Miss Tsukino," he replied, sitting down in his chair.

Serena gaped at him. Detention for a five minute nap? This was so not fair. "I have to fall asleep, like, three times on a bad day for Ms. Haruna to give me detention!"

"Perhaps you'd like to visit detention tomorrow as well?" Mr. Shields suggested. Darien raised his eyebrow.

Serena glared at him. "That's okay, Mr. Shields," she said in sugary sweet tone.

This time Darien couldn't repress the smirk that came to his face.

--

Serena couldn't have been happier when the final bell rang. Sitting through class with Darien for an instructor was torture. On her list, it ranked right up there with getting up early and having her eyes scratched out by a cat repeatedly for all of eternity. She was able to look on the bright side a bit, though.

"All I have to do is survive detention, and I'm free for today," she muttered under her breath as she slid into the desk she always sat in during detention. Old habits die hard, as they say.

The major concern for her was that no one else had managed to earn a detention that day. She didn't know if she could be alone with Darien for an hour without trying to kill him or kiss him, whichever came first. "Today would be the day that no one is here," she grumbled.

"Don't I count as a person, Meatball Head?" Darien asked as he sat in his chair. Serena hadn't heard him come in. She glanced over and noticed that the door was closed.

"I don't think of you as a person, really," she threw back.

"Oh, so you spend time thinking about me, then?" Darien countered.

"Real mature, Darien. Start calling me names and annoying me as soon as no one's around."

To his credit, Darien didn't say anything about the flush that burned Serena's cheeks at his last comment. She had a point. "No harm meant."

"You should probably save the insults for somewhere else, 'cause, you know, you work here. I should complain. Do you think I could get you fired?" Her eyes sparkled at the possibility.

Another good point. She didn't have it in her, though. Well, he didn't think she had it in her. Best to seem nonchalant. "Sure, Serena, good plan. Don't you have homework or something to do? I'm sure I could find you something..." He began to grade a stack of papers.

"I've got plenty," she said, quickly pulling out papers to work on. She didn't need any more homework, and after he gave her detention, she wouldn't put anything past him.

After a few moments, Serena glanced up at him, noticing how his hair fell over his eyes. She attributed the desire to run her fingers through to its volume and gloss and rubbed them against her skirt, as if to brush the thought off. He was a total pain, yet she had a crush on him. "In what alternate universe does that make sense?" she wondered. Without realizing it, she sighed.

Darien looked up at the noise. "What? Do I have something on my face?" he joked.

"No," Serena replied, quickly looking down to her work. Darien, luckily, went back to grading papers, so he didn't see the blush that crept into her cheeks.

Serena finished her reading assignment and half a math paper before checking the clock. "Five minutes," she whispered.

Darien finished the last paper in his pile just as she said this and glanced at his watch. How to occupy these last moments? "What were you dreaming about, Meatball Head?" he asked.

"Names, Darien, names," Serena replied calmly. There was no way she was telling the jerk that she was dreaming about him.

Darien new that she was changing the subject on purpose, a good sign that he had heard correctly. "Fine. What were you dreaming about earlier in class, Serena," he asked, carefully spelling out his question.

"None of your business," she replied, crossing her arms.

"How many people do you know named Darien?" he inquired.

"You. Why?" Serena said shortly. At his snort, she demanded "What?"

"Nothing. It was just something you said..." Darien let his sentence trail off and smiled brightly at her.

Serena was distracted by his dazzling smile. "What do you mean "something I said?"

"Well, you said one word in your sleep..."

"One word?" Serena prodded. Realization dawned on her, and her eyes widened.

"I heard you say my name," Darien replied smugly. There was no way out of this one.

"Ha! You must be imagining things!" she laughed, but Serena felt the heat in her cheeks.

"So, Serena, just how much do you like me?" he teased, leaning back in his chair.

Serena glanced up at the clock. "I don't have to take this. Detention's over," she said. Serena gathered her books and stalked out of the room.

Darien grinned cheekily all the way to his car. This was just too funny. "Serena wants me," he thought. He nearly burst out laughing. "I don't miss high school."

AN: I just want to reiterate the fact that this is an alternate universe fic with no senshi. Though it is not specified anywhere within, you can assume that though DSSC is set in the same time period as the show, it occurs in the U.S., hence excessive confusion on Darien's part, English names, and American style school system. In the original version, I attempted to set it in a Japanese school, but even though I remember doing a lot of research, I had/have no real knowledge of how their schools work. The only thing I know is what I learn from the news, which suggests Japanese schools are highly stressful and competitive (read: large numbers students commit suicide, i.e. by slamming pencils into their brains … that's random trivia from a college student for you). In short, the Japanese school environment would not be conducive to this story, so the only specifically remaining thing here is the uniform.

Also, I am aware that the school may not seem to run like a typical American high school, so I shall explain. Haruna is Serena's homeroom and English teacher; Darien takes her place. I'm not particularly concerned with the other time because it's not pertinent to DSSC.


	2. Inside Her There's Longing

-1Darien walked into the Crown Arcade an hour later than he had planned. He took a seat near the end of the counter and, as he expected, Andrew sat next to him a few minutes later, setting a steaming cup of coffee at his elbow.

"What took so long? Did you have to do overtime teacher work or something? " Andrew demanded. A sly look crossing his face, he added, "Did you meet a girl?"

Darien calmly sipped his coffee. "Detention. You'll never guess who's in my class."

Andrew stared blankly at him for a moment. "It wouldn't be Serena, would it?" The sly look returned.

He regarded Andrew levelly as he stirred his coffee, though he had not added anything to it. Andrew took this to be a sign of nervousness.

"The same Serena you pick on every possible day; the same Serena you hate; the same Serena who is the hottest senior at Crossroads High School?"

"Andrew," Darien growled. "Where in the hell did that come from?" The grip his coffee cup turned his knuckles white.

Andrew shrugged. "Some weird, dorky, kinda crazy kid. Comes in every now and then. Very sneaky. He's always writing things down."

"Sounds familiar," Darien said flatly, thinking of the boy who had spent most of his lunch hour asking a Darien million questions. He only got the kid to stop by threatening to call the superintendent. Darien thought that his name was Malcolm or something like that.

"Don't get all touchy, Darien," Andrew replied with smirk.

"I'm not getting 'touchy.' I'm just trying to point out the fact that it's not right for a guy your age to make comments like that about a girl Serena's age."

Andrew made a noise of disbelief. "I'm just trying to point out that if you're just going to argue with her all the time, you shouldn't sound so upset about someone else having the hots her, as they say."

Just then, a boy who had been waiting patiently nearby tapped Andrew on the shoulder.

Andrew spun around. "What? Can't you see I'm talking here?"

The boy looked like a deer caught in the headlights. "I, er, just wanted a soda."

"Right you are." Andrew stood up sheepishly. "This one's on the house." After handing over a large soda and patting the boy gently on the shoulder, he took his seat next to Darien again.

"You're great with teenagers." Darien hid a smile in his coffee cup.

"Thanks!" Andrew said cheerfully. Darien was so great at setting himself up. "So are you, especially the girls."

The sound of Darien strangling on his coffee was the only response.

"It's true, you know. You don't notice all the little girls in here who stare at you. Hell, you don't notice all the beautiful women who stare at you when we go out. In fact, the only female you ever notice is Serena." In his head, Andrew amended that to include little old ladies trying to cross the street, but saying it would have ruined the effect. "Why do you think that is?"

"I notice them," Darien protested after regaining his composure.

"The hell you do. If I didn't know you better, I'd think you were a total asshole. As much as you try to keep up that façade, you're a softie on the inside." Andrew nudged him in the arm with an elbow. "And one of your soft spots is for Serena."

"Andrew, if I had one thought that she was anything other than an annoying teenager, I would be forced to throw myself off of my balcony," Darien replied.

"Put me in your will as your sole heir, will you? If you're going to die that soon I want everything. After all this time and effort, I feel I deserve it." He grinned widely. "Still on the clock," he commented, jumping up from the stool.

Darien frowned at Andrew as the blonde moved down the counter to help a customer.

Serena sighed as she trudged down the sidewalk. Heat was radiating from the ground, and she really wasn't looking forward to her time at the Crown Arcade today. Normally, she had only one encounter with Darien Shields each day, but this would make two. Lucky her. The anxiety and heat had her in a terrible mood. There was no avoiding it, though. Saturday night, she had agreed to meet Amy, Lita, Raye, and Mina after school.

She glanced up and saw the building at the other end of the street. Her pace lessened to a crawl in her dread. She was already late to meet her friends, so there was no need to hurry to spend more time being tortured by Darien. She expected him to start teasing her the moment she walked in the door. "For the millionth time today," she thought. Then there was the fact that she still had the dream on her mind. Her cheeks reddened at the thought.

As much as she would have liked to, Serena was unable to put off her arrival forever. She took a deep breath and stepped into the arcade. The cool air that greeted her cheered her quite a bit, as did the realization that her friends were sitting in a booth that was as far away from Darien's seat at the counter as possible. Adding to her good fortune, his back was to her, and it was too loud in the crowded building to hear the slide of the doors. She went quickly over to the group of four with a renewed bounce in her step.

"You're late," Raye stated from her seat across the table.

"I know," Serena replied, dropping her bag under the table next to Mina's.

"Well?" Raye asked, She still hadn't looked up from the cappuccino she was drinking

"Detention," Serena said.

"I already told her that, Serena," Amy piped up from the other side of Mina. She turned a page in her book. Serena recognized it as the literature book but noted that the other girl was reading much farther ahead than necessary.

Mina and Lita exchanged glances across the table. "What happened?" Mina asked. Lita laughed, but it quickly turned into a cough a Serena's glance.

"What's your problem? You're acting weird, except Amy." Serena stared at each of her friends individually.

"Well, you iwere/i alone with Darien for a whole hour," Mina said with a grin.

"Oh, please, you're still on that kick, Mina? We were even at school, and you're trying to say that something happened between us," Serena exclaimed quietly.

"So you admit that something happened?" Mina asked, a slightly evil smile coming to her face.

"No way, Mina," Serena said.

"You have heard of the river in Egypt, de Nile?" Mina asked. Lita snickered.

"Hey, girls, how are you today? What's Serena in denial about?" Without anyone noticing, Andrew's sister, Liz, had come up to their table to take their order.

"About how she's totally in--"

Serena cut off Mina's sentence by clamping a hand over her mouth. "In trouble because Mina thinks I failed a test," she finished for her mute friend.

Liz laughed. "Okay, I won't pry. I'm sure you did fine on your "test," Serena. What can I get for everyone?" She whipped out a notepad and pulled a pencil from behind her ear. Once their orders were complete, she went back to the kitchen.

After checking around to make sure no one else was nearby, Serena turned back to Mina. "What do you want me to say? That we went into a closet and made out for the entire time I was supposed to be in detention?" Serena demanded, glaring at her friend.

Mina rubbed her hands together. "AHA!"

Serena sighed in exasperation and looked at Raye and Amy for help.

Raye stared at Mina. "I'm sure that's exactly what happened," she said sarcastically.

"See!" Serena crowed.

"She wishes," Raye added, smirking.

"Raye!" Serena's whine made the girls wince.

"Guys, leave Serena alone. Even if she was going to try to make a move on Darien, she wouldn't do it at school," Amy said calmly. Everyone turned to look at Amy in shock. Serena felt her cheeks redden. "What?" Amy asked. Raye shook her head and went back to her drink, Lita smirked and looked back down at her magazine, and Mina continued to stare at Serena with an evil look on her face.

Serena glanced to her left, checking to make sure that Darien was still in his seat. She was alarmed to find him missing. She began scanning the arcade to find him.

"You aren't looking for me, are you?" a male voice purred in her left ear. A shiver went down her spine at the breath that tickled her neck. Raye and Lita looked up at her. Lita's mouth twitched slightly, but she managed to contain her mirth.

"No," Serena retorted, trying to stay calm. That was no easy task with his mouth inches from her skin. Though she hadn't noticed his approach, Darien's presence in the booth behind her weighed heavily on her senses.

He folded his arms on the booth top and rested his head his sleeve. "Then what were looking for?" he asked. Noticing Raye's stare, Darien winked at her. She promptly blushed and moved to read over Amy's shoulder.

"I was looking to see if there were any open Sailor V games," Serena replied. She could feel herself flushing and wished that Liz would hurry back with her milkshake.

"There's only in one corner. So what else were you looking for?" Darien insisted.

Crossing her arms and glaring straight ahead, Serena replied, "I was checking to make sure that there weren't any creeps around, but I guess I was wrong about thinking there weren't."

Darien smirked at her quick response. "You didn't have any more daydreams about me on the way here, did you, Meatball Head?" Lita and Mina perked up, looking very interested in this comment. Darien could saw Serena's shoulders stiffen and almost felt guilty. Almost.

"You're not part of any of my dreams." Serena knew that she needed to relax if she didn't want to seem guilty, but with Darien so close that the hair on the back of her neck was standing up. It made it impossible for her to sit casually.

"Keep telling yourself that," he murmured.

Amy looked up from her textbook and surveyed the scene before her. Darien was leaning over Serena's shoulder, and Serena was looking very uncomfortable. Amy couldn't help but feel sorry for the girl. Plus, she wasn't sure if Serena's face could take on more blood without causing the girl to pass out. "Mr. Shields, isn't it against the law to seduce your students?"

Darien looked up at Amy in shock. "I'm not seducing her." His voice rose slightly on the word seducing. "You know I always tease her." He stood abruptly and began to walk off. His mind was churning, but he was unable to resist a parting shot and called over his shoulder, "Sweet dreams, Serena."

Serena groaned, dropping her head into her arms. Was it her imagination, or did she smell him as he walked away? He smelled good. "Thank you, Amy," she mumbled into her elbows."

"You're welcome, Serena," Amy answered cheerfully.

"You dream about him?" Mina questioned.

"Not now, Mina," Amy scolded. "Look, Serena! Milkshake!"

Serena's head snapped up to see Liz holding a tray of food and drinks. She brightened. "You're the best, Ames. Leave me alone, Mina. You too, Lita. And, Raye, he's gone; you can stop pretending to read and go back to drooling over him."

"I do not drool over him!" Her voice had a shrill edge to it.

As Serena and Raye began to fight, Amy quietly accepted her drink and went back to reading. Serena had turned the situation around nicely, and Darien had backed off. Amy had seen the confusion in his eyes before he schooled his features, and a little thought on his part made the whole ordeal worth it in her mind.

--

Serena reached over and turned out the light next to her bed. She stared at the dim light on her ceiling that was provided by a streetlight, thinking deeply. She knew she was not supposed to like Darien. They fought all the time, and she liked to mentally associate the term "arch nemesis" with him. The guy was a total jerk and seemed to get off on picking on her.

At the same time, he was showing her attention. Taunting was not positive attention by any means, but it was definitely better than the fawning over her done by guys at school. Plus, she couldn't help certain other words she mentally associated with him, like "sexy."

"So he's attractive, but that doesn't make up for his utter lack of personality. Does it, Luna?" The cat looked up at her as she scratched behind its ears. There was no other response before she fell asleep.

--

Serena stirred to the sound of shuffling footsteps across the carpet. She knew she should be alarmed, but she was oddly calm, considering that she might be facing death and all. She thought about that for a moment as she slowly opened her eyes.

"Hey, Serena," a man's voice whispered huskily above her.

"What are you doing here?" She glanced at the glowing, red face of her alarm clock. "It's three o'clock in the morning," Serena whispered. Though she asked the question, it didn't seem that strange.

"I haven't seen you in so long, and I was passing through the neighborhood, so I thought I'd drop in," he replied.

"At three o'clock in the morning?"

"Just for you," Darien replied, sitting on the bed next to her.

Serena suddenly became aware just how close she was to him. Unlike the Arcade, though, this was on a bed with her wearing a nightgown. Plus, she'd had the whole epiphany about his attractiveness and all. "Darien, I suggest you leave before I jump you," she said bluntly. Serena heard him chuckle. "What's so funny?"

"Allow me," he replied. In the blink of eye, he had swung around onto the bed and pressed his knee between Serena's legs. She marveled at his chest and vaguely wondered why he had taken a walk without a shirt on.

--

The alarm clock on Serena's bedside table went off, making Serena fall off onto the floor in surprise. A blush covered her face as she untangled herself from her sheets and wondered where the dream may have gone. Glancing at the alarm clock, she realized that it had actually woken her up for once.

"Just when it was getting good," she thought on her way to the bathroom. She instantly hated herself for it. "This is so bad." As she did her hair, she hoped that her face would eventually return to its normal shade.


	3. You Know How Bad Girls Get

-1Serena's awkward awakening had another unexpected affect. She typically set her alarm clock an hour early to make up for the number of times she hit the snooze button, and today, she woke up on the first bell. It was nice in some aspects because it allowed time for a warm breakfast and a leisurely walk to school, as opposed to the mad dash she usually experience. Bonuses aside, she arrived at school twenty five minutes early. Those were twenty-five more minutes she would have to spend alone with Darien Shields.

She went into the classroom and was surprised to find several students already there. Serena tried to hide her look of puzzlement as she plopped into her seat, but she couldn't help staring at the girls in the room. Though she came to school late nearly everyday, she was fairly certain that Brayden, Chelsea, and Tiffany were the last three students to enter the room no matter what. Well, they were the last excluding Serena, of course. They had a thing for being the center of attention, Serena knew. Being early didn't fit into their strategy.

Brayden looked up from the compact she was holding and noticed Serena's stare. "What are you looking at, Tsukino?" she questioned with one carefully sculpted eyebrow raised. Chelsea and Tiffany stopped whispering over a note they were reading to catch the exchange.

Serena shrugged and pulled out a Sailor V manga.

"Weird," Brayden muttered. She and her friends began whispering quietly.

----------------

As he strolled through the halls of lockers, Darien swore students watching him, yet no one seemed to be paying attention as he walked past. He was sure, though, that eyes were trained on his back. The hallway was starting to seem miles long. He breathed a silent sigh of relief as he entered his classroom.

"Good morning, Mr. Shields," called a chorus of female voices.

Darien stared at his students for only a moment before regaining his composure. "Good morning, girls." He placed his coffee mug, a newspaper, and the red planner on the desk. He noticed that Serena had not look up from her comic book. "Good morning, Miss Tsukino." Darien heard one of the girls in the back of the room huff and glanced at her. When rewarded with a dazzling smile, he turned back to Serena, wondering what was wrong with teenage girls. He had thought Serena was strange, but apparently, she was just part of the crowd.

Serena barely lifted her eyes; she was in the middle of an intense fight scene. "Morning," she mumbled.

Darien shook his head and opened the newspaper. Typically, he would press her about her rudeness, but he didn't want to demean himself in front of students. Speaking of, they started to drift into the room as the bell rang. Once they had properly taken their seats, Darien took attendance, determining that the entire class was present. He then asked them to pass their homework from i The Grapes of Wrath /i to the front.

Serena's eyes grew wide in panic as she opened her folder. She remembered finishing her math worksheet but not English. She was relieved when she saw the paper on top of the stack. When she pulled it out, she realized why it was on top. She had forgotten to ask Molly about three questions. She had thought about asking Amy, but the last thing Serena needed was for Darien to complain that her answer sounded too smart. She managed to fill in two of the questions by the time that he reached her row to collect the papers.

"Didn't you finish your homework, Miss Tsukino?" Darien asked, taking the papers from Molly.

"Yes, I just wanted to ask my friend if I was right on one of the questions," Serena replied, trying to fill in the third question.

Unfortunately, Mr. Shields pulled the paper out of Serena's hands and looked at it. "Do you know what the word homework means?" he asked.

"No, but I'm sure you're ready to tell me," Serena answered, plastering a smile on her face.

"Funny. You obviously have such a busy schedule that you can't fit homework in, so why don't you stay after to allow yourself more time?" Darien countered.

Serena literally stared openmouthed at his back as he moved to the next row to collect their papers. "Of all the stupid reasons to give a person detention! Miss H. would be happy just to take off points for me not being finished," Serena thought.

When Darien reached the last row, Brayden's hand shot up. "Yes, Miss…" Darien trailed off, unable to remember the girl's name.

"Tyler, but I'd prefer Brayden. Mr. Shields…" She hesitated for a moment before continuing, "I didn't do my homework." A look of guilt graced her features.

Darien wondered at the girl. He was impressed because few students would be so honest when faced with detention. It seemed, though, that by passing in the paper, she showed a willingness to sneak by. After a moment, he asked, "Why did you pass it in if you hadn't completed it?"

Brayden looked puzzled. "Well, I… er… everything was answered." When she noticed that Darien looked confused, she added, "It's not done well; I could have answered much more thoroughly."

"Oh, as long as you've answered everything, it should be fine. It's a completion grade," Mr. Shields answered, earning a smattering of groans or sighs of relief. Taking the row's papers at last, he turned back to his desk. With his back turned, he was unable to see Brayden's lips take on a pout or the annoyed glance she threw at Serena.

----------------

Serena sighed as she returned to her seat for detention. She was dreading it as much as before, but she had a great topic if he chose to annoy her. The girls in her class had provided the perfect fodder. Perhaps she should thank them tomorrow. Serena couldn't stop the smirk at how that scene played out in her head; the looks her classmates would give her!

"Are you that happy about having detention?" Darien questioned as he walked in from the hall and saw Serena's smirk. She was the only one present again, but several students had seemed determined to get one. The most nearly earned was when Brayden and her friends were "whispering" loudly during the time he had told the class to read silently. The girls apologized profusely, opened their books quickly, and seemed involved to such an extent that he felt they would not repeat the incident. As far as Darien was concerned, there was no reason to punish them if they had already repented.

"What? Oh. No, not really." Realizing that she still had the grin on her face, Serena looked down. She really had to stop finding herself so funny; she quickly set to work on a math problem.

Darien spent several minutes trying to grade papers, but the temptation to pester Serena grew too much. Plus, he was dying to know how she'd respond. "Have any more dreams about me?" he asked.

Serena was careful not to look up until after she felt the color recede from her cheeks. "Why do you ask? It'd probably be better to ask Brayden." The fact that her voice came out steadily impressed her. If she could keep this up, she'd keep Darien from teasing her for good. She ignored the part of her mind that wanted to take the word teasing to other places and, instead, focused on Darien's reaction.

"Why should I ask Brayden? I believe you were the one day dreaming of me yesterday," Darien responded.

To Serena, he seemed genuinely puzzled. Was he really as stupid as she so often told him he was? "Um… maybe because I don't stare at you with my eyes glazed over or, you know, adjust my bow whenever you look at me to make you notice my chest?"

Darien stared blankly at her. A… what were these girls? Sixteenish? A sixteen-year-old girl trying to get him to look at her chest? This was new. Also, very worrisome.

Apparently, he really hadn't noticed. "Wow. You're an idiot," Serena deadpanned. Not feeling the need to add to the conversation, she went back to math.

Now, this Darien could do. Arguing with Serena was familiar ground. Being crushed on by teenagers was not. Well, being crushed on by non-Serena teenagers was not. "Names, Serena, names."

She refused to correct herself at his insistence. "Doesn't being called Mr. Shields make you feel old?" It was the first thing that came to mind.

Darien gave her a strange look that she didn't see. Lately, he had been thinking about his age. Andrew had really gotten him started with his jokes about Serena, making him wonder if he was too old to tease a high school girl. After all, he willingly admitted that it was childish. Plus, after Andrew and Amy had said the same thing, he had to wonder if maybe there was something he wasn't seeing. He decided there wasn't, but the fact that he had to think about it at all brought him back to his age. Plus, her little revelation today about her schoolmates crushing on him didn't help. There was no way Serena could know any of this, but he still felt like she had somehow read his mind. "No, it makes me feel... respected," Darien finished after a pause.

"And that is why I don't call you that," Serena replied. "It boosts your already overly inflated ego."

"I think it's well deserved, honestly." He had a lot be proud of, after all. He was well liked, smart, and relatively attractive.

"Yeah, well, you would." At this point, Serena decided to ignore all of his further attempts to talk to her.

Darien did his work for the following day, glancing at Serena occasionally to see if she seemed willing to converse. He forced himself to let her work because he had said she clearly needed more time to do homework. At the same time, he wanted to talk to her. She had been completely composed when he'd asked her about her dream; that was totally not like her. When she finally put her work away and looked up at the clock, he was ready. "You never told me about your dream about me."

"You've got to be kidding me," Serena groaned. She thought she was in the clear for the day, especially since she only had five more minutes of detention.

"I just feel like I should know why you were moaning my name. It was something to do with me, after all."

Serena's eyes widened. "I didn't moan!" she protested. Well, maybe at home, but not in class, right?

"We don't need to split hairs; it was close enough." For a moment, Darien considered that perhaps he shouldn't talk to Serena about her moaning his name, but he really did have a right to know. He should know about things involving himself. Irritating Serena was a bonus, and any awkward topics were outweighed by the entertainment value.

"Pft. Like you know what a moaning girl sounds like," Serena grumbled. She was seriously getting frustrated with Darien's fixation on this… among other things. "Oh, look! Time to go!" Serena jumped up and strode out of the room before Darien could say anything else.

Darien stared after her for a moment. She got the last word; that just didn't happen. "Then again, neither did Serena dreaming about me until yesterday," he thought. It set him back to his usual self.


	4. Sometimes It's Not So Easy

-1Darien sighed as he dropped onto a stool across the counter from Andrew.

"Hard day at the office--err--classroom?" the blonde questioned, sliding a cup of coffee into place near Darien's hand.

"You could say that. Apparently, young girls love me," Darien complained as he took a sip.

Andrew stared at him wide-eyed. Suddenly he burst into laughter.

Darien blinked. "Honestly, Andrew, will you ever grow-up?" He couldn't help a slight smile, though, and hid it behind his cup.

"Hard day… young girls…" Andrew gasped between laughs as he slowly calmed down. "Ah, you kill me." He wiped his eyes. "What were you saying?"

"The female students in the class I'm substitute teaching think I'm… er… hot." Darien made air quotes for the word hot.

"You just used…you're such a loser. I can't believe any woman finds you attractive." Andrew reached across the counter to take an order from his sister.

"Oh, you'd be surprised," Liz commented. She slid an arm around Darien's shoulders. "Nerdiness is a real turn-on these days." As Liz received the evil eye from Andrew, Darien's face took on a deer-in-the-headlights quality. The girl laughed and kissed Darien on the cheek. "Relax; I'm just teasing Andy." She released him and leaned on the counter to wait impatiently.

After Andrew placed several milkshakes on a tray and watched his sister walk away, he commented, "If anyone ever tries to take her on a date, I will kill him. She's too young."

Darien stared at him. "And yet you try to convince me to go after Serena…"

Andrew's eyes lost the glazed sparkle they had taken on as he stopped fantasizing about murder. "Oh, pft. It's only 'cause she's my sister."

"So you would kill a male of any age for dating your 19-year-old sister, but it's okay for me, a 25-year-old, occasional substitute teacher to go after a 16-year-old?" Darien stared at him pointedly.

"Wrong, bud. All of the people in the class you're teaching are seniors in high school; that means 17 or 18." Andrew moved down the counter to pour a small soda for a little boy standing at the counter.

"That's still seven years. What could I possibly have in common with one of them?" Darien picked up a spoon and began stirring his coffee aimlessly.

"Are you an elitist now? Completely out of touch with the common youth?" Andrew asked, glaring at the boy who was digging around in his pockets for change to pay for the 3.25 soda.

Darien glanced up from the black liquid. "Did you just use the term elitist?"

"What? A guy can't know big words?" Andrew demanded, putting his fists on his hips.

Darien stared at him.

Andrew met his eyes for a few seconds and finally gave a sheepish grin. "All right; I get emails with a word of the day."

--

Today, Serena approached the Crown Arcade with her head held high. She had successfully survived Day Two _and _dodged Darien's questions. "Now," she thought as she stepped through the sliding doors, "I just have to avoid Mina." She walked over to sit across from Amy and next to Mina. She made sure to stare directly at Amy. "Hey, guys."

"Hello, Serena," Amy chirped. "Raye and Lita aren't coming today. Raye has to help her grandpa, and Lita's cooking." She paused thoughtfully. "Or perhaps cooking something up."

This intrigued Serena, so she opened her mouth to ask Amy what she meant by it, hoping that it was nothing to do with her or a certain dark haired jerk.

"Wanna play a game of Sailor V?" Mina asked energetically, bouncing in the seat next to Serena.

Serena turned to stare at Mina warily. No questions about school or Darien or her dreams? Something was up. "Not really; you always win," Serena replied.

"That's not true, Serena. You beat Mina once," Amy commented.

"See? Wanna play again?"

Serena looked at Amy imploringly. What a traitor! Setting her up to lose to Mina…

Amy looked equally imploring. "I was going to try to work on the next chapter of pre-calc so I could tutor you."

Serena sighed. Apparently, Mina's boundless energy was getting on everyone's nerves today. "Okay. I play; you pay," Serena agreed. She could spare Amy from Mina for at least a little while. It never occurred to her that extra bouncy Mina meant she was up to something.

Mina sighed. "That wasn't very polite, Serena," she said, but she led Serena to the game in the very corner of the arcade regardless. After she and Serena were seated next to it, Mina deposited four quarters and pushed a button; the game began. "You know, Serena, I could help you to get Darien to want you," Mina said quietly as she pounded the buttons, blasting monsters left and right.

"I don't want Darien to want me!" Serena exclaimed. The suggestion had taken her by surprise, and Serena hoped that her quick reaction assured Mina of her honesty.

"Sure you do, and you know it. Even he knows," Mina replied. "I mean, Darien is gorgeous, and he gives more attention to you than to any other girl, be it good or bad. It would make less sense if you didn't want him. I don't think he really means to be mean; he's just never learned how to show how he feels to a woman." Somehow she carried on her end of the conversation without taking her eyes off of the screen. It was better multitasking than most people gave her credit for.

Serena stared at her with wide eyes. "Are you serious?" She wasn't exactly sure what part of Mina's monologue that applied to, but she was entirely taken aback by the whole.

"Completely." After reaching just over 597,000 points, Mina lost her final life, and it was Serena's turn. "Think about it."

Serena didn't respond. Instead, she began her turn as Sailor V and tried to figure out what exactly Mina wanted her to think about as her points racked up. She knew Mina would help her, so did the blonde want her to think about how? Or had her point been the revelation about Darien actually liking her. Serena had just cleared 575,000 points when the worst thing that could happen to her during a serious competition happened: Darien walked up behind her unexpectedly.

"Hey, Meatball Head," he said from over her head. He had tried to resist the temptation to tease her, but he couldn't stand it any more.

Serena jumped at the sudden intrusion. Sailor V's attack missed the monster, which hit Sailor V with a spike. "Crap! That's your fault, jerk!" she nearly yelled, turning to her right, away from Mina, and doing everything possible to avoid looking up.

"It's not my fault you can't do two things at once," he replied. "I've noticed that you have trouble walking and chewing gum at the same time, too… or just walking."

Serena winced and felt her cheeks redden in annoyance, but she was determined not to rise to the bait. "No, it's your fault that you scared me and made me hit the button too soon," Serena retorted.

"Oh, please, Meatball Head. It's a video game; this isn't the end of the world." He hoped, at least. It hadn't been his intention to genuinely upset her, which, based on her folded arms and refusal to meet his eyes, she was.

"I was really trying for a high score!" She glared up at him before realizing her mistake. She quickly whirled around to face her friend. "Plus, now I lost to Mina."

"As always," Mina sing-songed. She winked at Serena and wandered off toward Amy.

Serena glanced up at Darien, hoping that he had not seen her friend's wink. What would he take it to mean? "Probably that she knows that I'm desperately in love with him or something," she thought with slight amusement. Luckily, Darien was completely focused on her and oblivious to Mina's exit. Maybe Mina had a point.

"You act like it's hard work," Darien scoffed, his eyes focusing on the Sailor V logo now on the screen. He was fairly certain that if the girl had devoted as much energy to school work as to this arcade game, she would never have had that failed test to toss over her shoulder at him.

Serena made an incredulous noise in her throat. "Think you could do better?" There was no way she could pass up this opportunity to bring Darien down a notch, no matter how she felt toward him at the moment.

Darien regarded her levelly. "Yes." How hard could it be? He was a business man and part-time substitute teacher after all. When Serena smiled widely at him, he felt a little uneasy. The glint in her eye was not a common sight. He watched her pushing the buttons rapidly as she played. He realized he would lose but assumed he could get a decent score. A loss was expected from him, he knew; Serena was the right age for video games, not guys his age.

When his turn came, Darien sat down, trying to seem as at ease as possible, a hard task considering that he hadn't played a video game since before grad school. He lost his first life in the first level and attempted a backhanded comment, "How much time do you spend playing these things?"

Serena sighed. She realized that Darien was trying to distract her from the fact that he was failing miserably. Admittedly, she wanted to show him up, but that was when she thought he might be some kind of competition. He obviously had no idea what he was doing and would not compare to her performance. "Here." She put one hand over his on the joystick and the other over the buttons to guide him through the game.

Darien was completely stunned at Serena's gesture. She usually avoided touching him, aside from a few occasions when she had pushed him in annoyance. Yet today she had quickly placed her tiny hands over his to help him. He noticed that her fingers were long and elegant, which seemed out of place with the typical gracelessness of Serena. He tried to focus on the screen or even the controls she was using, but most of his thoughts were less concerned with the fate of the pixilated villains and more with the proximity of Serena. In particular, they were interested in the warm softness pressed against his back, the brushes against his knuckles as she hit buttons, and the suggestiveness of their hands on the joystick.

"There, that's much better. You didn't do so bad; you just need some practice," Serena commented as she stepped back. Darien's score wasn't even comparable to hers, but it was a good start. Suddenly, Serena realized how close she had just been to Darien, how openly she had touched him. She hoped that the apprehension had didn't show in her face.

"Thanks." Darien paused, trying to think of something else to say. The silence stretched on too long between them, but he couldn't think of anything else to say.

"I've gotta get home," Serena said suddenly. She turned on her heel and exited abruptly.

Darien was left staring after her with a feeling of shock still firmly in place. He teased Serena, and she reacted childishly; there was no room for this type of civility, especially with the newfound confusion he felt toward her.

--

After her calm exit, Serena began to run away from the arcade. Much to her surprise, she was brought to a crashing halt by an arm that shot out of an alley. She felt the arm before her momentum carried both her and her attacker into the wall of the building opposite. "Let go of me, you creep!" She struggled as best she could, but their legs were tangled. "If you lay a finger on me, I'll--I'll beat you over the head with my bag!"

A female laughed. "Do you think the three comic books you have in there will hurt?"

When her captor stepped back, Serena turned around and glared at her. "Mina! I thought you were going to kill me and bury me in a bunch of shoe boxes."

"Too much work. Besides, I have better things to do." Mina dusted invisible dirt from the front of Serena's school uniform. "Let's talk about how you're going to get Darien." Mina noticed that Serena glared harder and sighed. "Okay. Meet at my house early in the morning."

Serena's glare turned into a look of disbelief. "You want me to get up early on a day when we don't have school?" She adjusted her grip on her bag.

Mina rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Sleeping Queen--"

"Beauty," Serena corrected automatically. Though the topic was not to her liking, interpreting Mina-speak was second nature.

"Right. Meet at my house a little bit before you usually show up at the Crown."


	5. Temptation

Darien sat up in bed. He was a light sleeper and had had a lot on his mind before drifting off, but he liked to think that he would wake from any kind of sleep if he heard his balcony door slide open in the middle of the night. He always locked it; no matter how high he was, he wasn't taking any chances. With anticipation and some fear gripping him, he slid out of bed walked into his living room. He saw a figure standing next to the now closed balcony door and immediately lost all his previous feelings.

Serena was till wearing her school uniform, but she had removed her shoes at his balcony door. She was bathed in moonlight. Her hair was silver in the moonlight, and the illuminated parts of her face, arms, and long legs were ivory.

"How did you know where I live?" Darien asked.

"I followed you," Serena said simply. She stalked towards him, but he took a step backwards, unwilling to start something with her. She backed him up right to the wall. "What's wrong, Darien?" she whispered silkily, twining her arms around his neck. "Don't you like me?" Her blues eyes met his. She grinned and pressed her lips lightly to his. Serena kissed him gently for only a moment. Then she was kissing him so hard that the back of his head almost hurt from being pressed against the wall.

Darien's hands came up to hold her waist, pulling her tightly against him. After she wiggled her hips to adjust his grip, he began to stroke his tongue against hers in a mimicry of what he really wanted to do. He reached for a handful of her hair, running his fingers through it as carefully as he could, enjoying the softness.

Suddenly, Serena danced a bit out of his grip and was back to light, closed mouth kisses, and Darien watched her through slightly lidded eyes. She nipped along his jaw and licked his earlobe, earning a sigh from him. She pulled back and gazed into his eyes with hers for a moment. She grinned wickedly at him and dropped to her knees.

--

Darien's eyes snapped open, and he groaned. He rolled over and stared at the ceiling with the concentration of an artist studying a still-life. Clearly, he had done a 180 on his opinion of Serena. This is just what he needed: to be a creepy, twenty something bachelor with a crush on a school girl. "Then again," he thought as the image of Serena's beautiful eyes looking up at him played across his eyes, "crush might not be the right term." He pulled himself out of bed and headed for the bathroom, planning a cold shower.

On his way past the sink, Darien caught a glimpse of his face and stopped. Was that a wrinkle? He leaned in and realized it was just a crease from where he'd slept on his pillow. "Whew," he said to his reflection, smiling at himself. As he continued to the shower, he found himself wondering if he had always had those smile lines around his mouth. Then he decided that Andrew would say he was acting like a woman and thanked the heavens that his friend would never find out about it.

--

"Are you sure you're sane?" Serena asked, looking at Mina with raised eyebrows. Serena sat on Mina's orange bed spread as Mina rummaged through her closet.

"Perfectly," came the muffled reply. "Eureka!" Mina exclaimed, suddenly appearing from the closet. "This is just right." Mina held up an extremely short, pastel pink skirt.

"Right for what?" Serena asked cautiously.

Mina tossed the skirt to Serena, who easily caught it. "To wear, silly. Now, if I can just find a shirt..." She disappeared into the closet.

Serena gawked at the skirt. "I am not wearing this."

"But it will get Darien's attention," Mina said patiently as she emerged from the closet carrying a white shirt.

"Oh, so I should do that by making him think I'm a whore?" Serena asked. Her voice squeaked a bit when she came to the last word.

"Darien won't think you're a whore, Serena," Mina soothed. "You're very sweet an innocent, so--"

"Mina, I'm so not sweet an innocent." Serena glared at her friend.

"You so are! You don't break rules. Your only vice is failing school work. You don't chase guys or date. You're practically an angel." Mina raised a finger for each point. When Serena sighed, Mina took it as victory and continued with the previous topic. "Anyway, you're very sweet and innocent, so Darien won't think you're a whore. At the most, he might think you're wearing a 'come fuck me' outfit, but that's kinda the point."

"Mina!"

"Oh, Serena, stop acting like we're 12." Mina stuck her tongue out at her friend.

Serena rolled her eyes. "Nice comeback. Really, though, Mina, don't you think this could go very wrong?"

Mina looked serious and thoughtful for a moment. "Nope!" she exclaimed, beaming at her friend.

The other blonde couldn't help but laugh. "You're hopeless."

"Now, get dressed, or you'll be later than usual," Mina directed. She pushed Serena toward the bathroom.

In the bathroom, Serena quickly pulled on the clothes Mina had given her. She tried to pull the little skirt down as far as possible, but given the size, it wasn't very far at all. Serena wasn't very happy about how much of her legs were visible or how close her butt came to showing. The shirt she was okay with. It was an excessively low cut tank top, but she had adjusted it so that it was pulled down a bit further in the back. She took a steadying breath before going out to Mina.

"Hm." Mina walked around Serena once and nodded. She then pulled down the tank top in the front, revealing Serena's cleavage.

"Hey!" Serena exclaimed, putting a hand over her chest in an attempt to cover it.

"Hay is for cows, Serena. Oh! I almost forgot." Mina reached up and loosed Serena's hair, allowing it to fall down her back. "You look perfect. Let's go." The smiling girl offered her arm to her friend.

"Like this? Can't I change at the Crown?" Serena asked, her eyes wide.

"Don't be so shy. You have to take some risks, or you'll get nowhere. Where's your sense of being open to risk taking?" Mina replied.

"Adventure," Serena corrected, but she let Mina lead her toward the door.

--

Darien slid into his preferred stool across the counter from Andrew and placed the stack of papers he was carrying in front of him.

Without a word, Andrew slid him a cup of coffee. "How's it going? Whoa! did you bring work with you?" He gestured toward the stack of papers with the coffee pot still in his hand.

"Fine, and, yes, I did," Darien replied in answer to both questions.

Andrew stared at him. "I'm having enough work as it is, so you can go over there somewhere with yours." He swung the pot toward the tables across the way.

With a bemused smile, Darien gathered his papers again. He crossed the arcade and picked a chair. Sometimes, Andrew could really throw him for a loop. Darien wondered what reason he had to come to the Crown if his friend was going to banish him for doing work.

A while later when the arcade had only two other patrons, Andrew sat down across from him. "Sorry, hard day at the office," he explained. "It's rent day. How much fun is school work without all the hot girls around to chase you while you're doing it?"

Darien glared at him. "Young girls."

"Right. Young, hot girls." Andrew grinned.

Darien considered telling him about the wrinkle he'd thought he had. He quickly thought better of it.

--

As Serena and Mina were walking toward the arcade, Serena had her hair around her like she was trying to hide. "Mina!" she exclaimed in a whisper.

"Yes, Serena?" Mina didn't lower her voice.

"Everyone is staring at me!"

"I know; isn't it great?" Mina asked. She winked at a particularly attractive man who was staring at her friend; he tripped over his feet as they passed.

Serena sighed.

Just as they neared the arcade, Mina glanced at her wrist. "Look at the time! I've gotta go."

"Mina, you're not wearing a watch," Serena stated more calmly than she felt.

"I know. Bye, Serena! Good luck! Knock him up!"

Serena stood outside the Crown in the middle of the sidewalk and could do nothing but blink as Mina practically dashed away from her. She made a mental note to explain the difference between knocking up, knocking out, and knocking dead to Mina later.

Serena walked past the last few shops before the Crown Arcade quite slowly. She grimaced before she walked up to the sliding door. The door opened, and she walked inside, fixing her face with a small grin.

"Serena." Andrew's eyes widened as his friend walked in and walked toward the counter. He scrambled to get behind it.

Darien wondered momentarily if Andrew was crazy, but he continued grading.

"Hey, Serena." Andrew tried his best to keep his eyes focused on hers. He considered Serena a friend and wanted to keep it that way.

"Hi, Andrew!" she chirped. "Andrew is such nice guy," Serena thought when she noticed he wasn't checking her out like everyone else.

"What can I do you for?" he asked. Andrew contemplated that sentence and hoped the panic he felt didn't show on his face. "That's what she said." After this thought, he had to force a straight face.

"I don't really want anything, but thanks." She smiled widely at him before turning away.

Andrew grinned at her and quickly turned his back on her to resist the urge to stare at her skirt. Right, he was going to stare at her skirt. Andrew rolled his eyes as he cleaned the soda fountain.

"This is it, Serena," she told herself. Using will power she didn't know she had, Serena walked up to Darien's table.

From the corner of his eye, all Darien could see was skin. He carefully kept his focus on his papers, but his mind was else where. Somehow, he had to discourage Serena; he was bad for such a sweet girl.

"What's up, Darien?" Serena asked, shifting to one foot nervously.

Darien quickly pulled his mind away from the first response he thought of for her question. "Not much, just doing some work. What are you up to today, Serena?" What was the easiest thing he could do to keep her away from him? He turned his chair to face her nonchalantly.

"The Crown for a while, and I might go to the mall later, " Serena answered. She was fairly impressed with how steady she kept her voice, especially because she could clearly see Darien's eyes slowly roving over her figure

Darien's jaw tightened as he looked at Serena. She was wearing an outfit that left little to the imagination, and, judging by how he was reacting, his imagination was taking note for future dreams. His eyes zeroed in on her long, beautiful hair, and he contemplated running his hands through it to find out if it was as silky as he had dreamed. As images of Serena dropping to her knees before him crossed his mind, he couldn't help but hate his timing. Darien fought the lust he was feeling. "17-years-old," he reminded himself. Inside, he felt like lust was warring with panic.

"Do you like my outfit?" Serena asked finally. She couldn't think of anything else to say, and the silence had drawn on too long for her liking. What was he thinking?

Darien's eyes met hers. "Not really," he said coolly. Inside, panic won.

"Thanks," she said sarcastically.

Darien's hand shot out and gripped Serena's hip. Still looking into her now wide eyes, he pulled her forward and down, making her straddle him.

In the back of her mind, Serena wondered why she ever listened to Mina. "Why did you do that?" she demanded quietly, arching her back to keep her face as far away from him as possible. This invading personal space thing was new for her, and she wasn't sure it should have progressed so quickly.

"Why did you wear that?" Darien retorted, ignoring her question. With her body arched into his, he had quickly forgotten why this seemed like a good idea. He would hate himself for it later, he knew.

"You first," Serena responded, crossing her arms.

Darien was quickly reminded of how young she was. "I was getting your attention," he said as calmly as possible.

Serena glared at him. "That's ridiculous," she muttered, attempting to get off of Darien's lap. She tensed her thighs to stand, but Darien's hands suddenly grasped her arms firmly. "Eeep," Serena whispered.

Later was coming much sooner than expected for Darien. His desire to teach a lesson was quickly fading into simply desire. This had to end quickly before he forgot himself and compromised Serena. "Why did you wear it?" Darien insisted.

As she was prone to do in uncomfortable situations, Serena fidgeted and felt Darien's fingers dig into her arms and interpreted it as an attempt to get her to speak. "Ow! I wanted to get iyour/i attention. Happy?"

"Not really. I would appreciate it if you didn't try to get my attention and never wore that again," Darien said in a commanding tone. He likened it for a moment to his teacher voice and quickly dropped the thought to avoid panicking. It was a good distraction from the warm feeling of Serena on top of him, though.

"Why is that, Mr. Shields?" Serena asked sarcastically. The tone had not been lost on her.

Darien had to hold back a wince. At least her comment made his aim easier. He leaned in to make Serena feel his breath ghosting over her neck as he whispered in her ear. "It's not completely necessary that two people love, or even like, each other in order to fuck." Darien released her arms and pushed her away from him.

Serena scrambled backwards, her face bright red. "OkaybyeDarien," she said breathlessly. Serena turned and almost scampered out of the Crown Arcade.

As he turned back to his table, Darien let out a deep breath that he didn't know he was holding. Serena hated him, which was unfortunate, but that, as far as he was concerned, was the end of that. Thinking of her shocked face, Darien nodded in satisfaction.Then, from the corner of his eye, Darien caught sight of Andrew's apron. "Great," he thought.

Andrew smirked at him. "Why haven't you jumped off of your balcony yet?" he demanded. "I could really use that entertainment system of yours to watch the soccer game on Saturday."

Darien gave Andrew the best confused face he could muster. "Nothing happened to give me a reason to." This couldn't be good.

"Unless you count the whole pulling Serena into your lap thing you just did. And I thought I heard you say something quite interesting to her about two people not having to like each other..." Andrew began.

Darien made a face and opened his mouth to speak.

"Got you!" The blonde pumped a fist in the air. "Now that you've admitted it, the only thing to do is act."

Darien glared at Andrew. "There will be no acting; she's too young. I was just scaring her off. And why were you eavesdropping?" As long as he kept telling himself that, it would make sense.

"I wasn't eavesdropping. I was coming over to ask Serena if she wanted a milkshake, and you happened to be holding her in your lap, whispering naughty things in her ear," Andrew replied with a shrug. He smiled roguishly at his friend. "Duty calls." With that, Andrew returned to work, leaving Darien to his rather conflicted thoughts.


	6. Frustration

-1AN: Sorry for taking so long; I get distracted by college work/transferring.

I was thinking about how weird it seemed in the story to have Serena calling people in her room. If I was going to call someone, I'd do it from the car or something on my cell phone. Then I realized that when I originally wrote this story, five or so years ago, cell phones were not as common as they are now. Then, no one in my family had one, but now even my 10-year-old niece has one. In future chapters, 'm going to keep with the lack of cell phones because Sailor Moon was pre-cell phones, but I feel old.

--

Serena sat in front of her mirror, unweaving her hair from the braid she wore to sleep while contemplating the weekend's events. Seeing Darien at school was the last thing she wanted to do, but she knew there was no way out of it; her mother stopped falling for the sick routine years before. Running her fingers through her hair to straighten it, she thought of what Darien had said. After two nights, she was finally able to avoid blushing at it. Still, she felt certain that no matter what he said, Darien sincerely liked her. Reaching for a hairbrush, she considered his possible motives for freaking her out intentionally. Perhaps Darien hadn't meant to freak her out; maybe it was his way of expressing himself.

"Maybe he doesn't know how to have a relationship because he's never had one!" she exclaimed to her reflection. A frown met a frown.

Wait. Mina had said that Darien was worried that she was too young, so maybe he wanted to scare her off. "That's logical," she told her mirror image sarcastically. Then again, the whole thing seemed to lack any obvious logic, so… Serena thought back to sitting in Darien's lap, and after taking one last glance in the mirror, she thought ahead to sitting in class with Darien. And she couldn't avoid Mina any longer Iand/I would have to tell her the story. "Today sucks."

--

Darien stared at the planner on his desk, intentionally avoiding eye contact with anyone. The longer he could avoid Serena's gaze, the better. He felt that his plan had worked too efficiently. The childish bickering they had done before was never serious, and he dreaded seeing hate in her eyes; she was too sweet for such feeling. The bell rang.

"Good morning, class. Please take out your homework." Darien wrote a reading assignment on the board as he spoke.

"Mr. Shields?" Brayden called.

Turning away from the board, Darien directed his gaze quickly to her waving hand. "Yes, Miss Tyler?"

"It's Brayden. My dog ate my homework." The girl gave an apologetic shrug.

Clutching her own homework, Serena muttered, "You've got to be kidding me." A nudge from Molly quieted her.

Darien stared at the Brayden. He refused to lose patience with her. That would allow her to win. "Miss Tsukino, your comments are unnecessary." His eyes remained on Brayden. "I expect that if you look a little harder, you'll find that your dog left your homework more intact than you might have thought."

"Honestly, sir. Fluffy loves to eat paper," Brayden explained. This was accompanied by a look that was meant to be worried but seemed almost smug.

Taking the stack of papers from Melvin at the front of Brayden's row, Darien continued to stare at her levelly. "All right, then, Miss Tyler. I expect it tomorrow morning. Be careful where you leave your papers; I'd hate to hear that Fluffy ruined any more of your hard work." He hoped that sounded as sincere as he thought.

"Please open your books to page 402." While waiting for the class to finish shuffling their things, Darien scanned the questions that had been answered as homework. Why make it easy? "The theme of this selection can be applied to _The Catcher in the Rye _as a whole. Does anyone want to take a guess?" When no one reacted, he said, "Shall I call on people? Miss Baker?"

"Gee, I don't really know, Mr. Shields. Is it failure?" Molly guessed, looking extremely uncertain. "He's always talking about not being in school."

"That's a logical speculation, but that's not the overall theme," Darien said. He smiled reassuringly at her. "Anyone else?"

Different voices from around the room called, "phoniness," "being a rebel," and "depression."

Unfazed by this barrage, Darien called, "Miss Anderson?"

Amy, who had just finished rolling her eyes, said simply, "It's alienation."

"Correct. Throughout the novel, Holden tries to come to terms with alienation that he feels because of… Yes, Miss Tyler?" He knew he couldn't ignore her hand, but he really wanted to. Ever since Serena mentioned Brayden's attention to him, he had been worrying about it. Well, in the time when he wasn't thinking about Serena, that is.

"I don't think that that's the theme," she complained, her lips in a pout.

Darien swiftly put the lid on a day dream that ended with him having the girl expelled. "I was just going to explain--"

"I think the theme is sexuality." She glared at a few people across the room who giggled at her.

Wondering why he would ever take a job where he would be faced with such immaturity, Darien forced himself to stay calm. "While that could be a very minor--"

"It's not minor; it's major. There's a hooker." She smoothed her face before turning back to her teacher.

"Actually--"

"I don't see why you keep arguing; alienation makes no sense," Brayden interrupted, folding her arms.

"Frankly, Miss Tyler--" Darien tried again.

"Brayden. I'd prefer you to call me that whenever you say my name." This earned a laugh from several members of the class.

Darien really couldn't ignore the innuendo, and at this point it was on his nerves. "Miss Tyler," he repeated in a stern voice, "I am tired of your attempts to land yourself in detention, so if you will allow me to conduct the class without further incident, I will see you there after school."

"If you insist, Mr. Shields." Brayden smiled brightly and began twirling a piece of her hair.

Serena laughed loudly and leaned to whisper to Molly.

"You too, Miss Tsukino," Darien stated. When Serena stared open mouthed at him, Darien immediately looked down at the story to avoid her eyes. It served to calm his nerves as well, but it caused him to miss the glare that Brayden was dividing between the two of them.

--

Serena stared at the clock; the hands were turning far too slowly. Spending another 45 minutes here was not what she wanted to be doing. Really, she wanted to be doing anything that Iwasn't/I spending another 45 minutes here. She looked back down at her math worksheet. More than anything, she wanted this detention to go smoothly so she could get away from Brayden and Darien as soon as possible. She liked the guy, but this punishment was totally uncalled for and rather annoyed her. The fact that she could feel him staring at her sometimes didn't help; it did make her feel self conscious, have trouble focusing.

"She looks so cute with her forehead scrunched in concentration." Darien quickly looked down. He had to stop thinking things like that. The last thing he wanted was for Serena to dislike him more. Come to think of it, she didn't really act as terrified or even as resentful as he had expected.

Serena snuck a glance at Darien; he wasn't looking this time. He was driving her crazy with that. The staring, though annoying, did have one benefit: it solidified Serena's theory that Darien really did like her. She had already caught him watching once or twice, and it wasn't like he was ogling her. He was just looking at her and thinking.

Brayden sighed loudly. She raised her eyebrows when both Serena and Darien turned to look at her. "What? I'm bored."

"Please do your work, Miss Tyler," Darien instructed. When it seemed like she might open her mouth to respond, he quickly looked down at the papers he was grading, but he wasn't really looking at them.

Realizing that Serena was still staring at her, Brayden sneered at her before studying the pink polished nails of one hand and using the other to twirl a strand of red hair.

Shaking her head, Serena turned back to her work. He was staring at her Iagain/I.

Darien had often teased Serena about having a crush on him. A few times, her friends' reactions had nearly convinced him that his jest wasn't all wrong. He had never expected her to act on it, though. He definitely didn't expect her to show up at the Crown wearing next to nothing for his benefit. Unable to stop himself, he raised his eyes slightly to see just over his desk to her long legs. He wondered if they were as smooth to the touch as they looked and thought about running his hands up and down her calves. If her school uniform was a little shorter…

"Stop," Serena said without looking up.

"Please do," Brayden begged. "Why do you always pay so much attention to Tsukino?" She folded her arms as Darien looked towards her, pushing her breasts up noticeably.

As Darien opened his mouth to respond, Serena simply glared, but neither got the chance to respond. The door to the classroom opened, and Chelsea and Tiffany entered.

"Chels! Tiff! I'm so glad you're here!" Brayden extended her arms in a welcoming gesture.

Serena stared at the girls, her glare replaced with a dumbfounded stare.

"Hey, girl," Chelsea began. "We're going to the mall after--"

"Are you serious?" Darien asked. His voice was low, almost dangerous sounding.

As Chelsea turned to look at him, she began nervously playing with one of her blonde locks. "What?"

"Miss Doyle and Miss Chang, leave immediately. Detention is not a place for socializing." Darien stood and walked to the door, holding it open.

"But, Mr. Shields--" Brayden wheedled.

"That's enough from you, Miss Tyler, or you and your friends can begin joining me in detention indefinitely." His brows remained furrowed as he watched the two shuffle past him, waving cheerfully to their friend.

Across the room, Brayden pouted. Just as Darien closed the door, she asked, "May I go to the restroom?"

Darien sighed. This one student was beginning to make him wonder why he had ever considered substitute teaching to begin with; he certainly didn't need the money. "Yes, but I expect you back within five minutes."

As soon as the door closed again, Serena burst out laughing. "Way to go, Shields," she congratulated. The look of near defeat Darien gave her almost chastised her. Almost.

"Please call me Mr. Shields," he asked. As if he wasn't tried enough, Serena had apparently decided to go back to bickering with him. This opened up a new line of questioning: had she been unfazed by his message?

"Sorry, Mr. Shields." The emphasis she put on his name dripped with sarcasm. She smiled widely at him before looking back down at her work.

Darien smiled bemusedly at Serena's buns. The teasing was so familiar; it had always cheered him up, even though it did nothing but annoy Serena. Being on the receiving end of a smile was nice for a change. Thinking back on their arguments and the insinuations that she had had a crush on him, but he had never thought it was true. Now Darien wasn't sure if it was new knowledge or old memory that showed him an embarrassed flush on her cheeks. Here he was thinking about what he shouldn't be again…

The door swung open. "Mr. Shields? A word?" Mr. Greene held the door open as Brayden reentered with a dazzling smile at Darien.

Jarred completely from his thoughts, Darien jumped to agree, his face reflecting a myriad of emotions.

Serena glowered at Brayden until the men were out of earshot. "What did you do?" she hissed.

Brayden grinned toothily at her. "I let Mr. Greene know of possible sexual harassment; I wouldn't like to think that any teachers are abusing their power."

About to respond with some choice words, Serena realized that Brayden currently had the principal completely on her side. There was no way she wanted Darien to lose his job, even if he had lately acted like cocky, assumptive bastard. Instead, Serena huffed and returned to work.

The last fifteen minutes of detention were tense with Serena and Darien working diligently, their eyes fixed on their work, and Brayden staring between the two with her arms crossed. When the time came, the girls bolted from the room, and Darien stared at their empty chairs, especially one in particular. His apprehension had been validated by the chat with his boss. Remembering the barely restrained anger in the man's voice, Darien cringed. He was a terrible person to be unable to get a young girl off his mind. Still, in his mind, Serena's smiling face replaced Mr. Greene. He pressed his hands into his eyes for a moment before standing and striding from the room.


	7. Wet Bus Stop

-1As he closed the car door, Darien stared at the drop of rain that landed on his windshield. What a fantastic complement to his mood.

Darien wasn't one to think of life as being unfair. He'd had many difficult experiences starting at a young age with the loss of his parents; had he been a "life's not fair" person, he'd never have made it this far. Pity parties weren't his thing. Yet, here he was, sitting in his car, cursing himself and everything else because of a 17-year-old girl. He was in one of those cliché battles between heart and head: his feelings for Serena versus his cultural knowledge. For the first time since he'd started fending for himself so long ago, he didn't know what to do. That lack of control almost made Darien call life unfair. Routine was Darien's way of life, and Serena was disrupting it completely.

Frustrated beyond belief, he slammed his hands into the steering wheel before putting the key in the ignition.

----------------

"Why has it been raining so much lately?" Serena whined aloud. After her daily trek to the Crown Arcade was interrupted by the beginning of a rainstorm, she had run to the bus stop. Though this got her out of the rain faster, she was, of course, still drenched. Under the shelter, she began ringing water from her pigtails.

"Now all I need is lightning, and it'll be a fantastic day." On cue, thunder rumbled, and the sky lit up. Serena dropped onto the bench, eyes wide. No matter how old she got, storms scared her. Glancing at the bus schedule, she realized she had just missed a bus and that the next wouldn't come along for an hour. Serena hugged her knees to her body to serve the double purpose of keeping her feet dry and making her feel almost safe. Almost.

----------------

Darien was not crying. He sniffed. He didn't have some macho issue with crying, but he did feel that this was unworthy of it. Sure, he'd never been able to take criticism from his superiors, like that he had just endured from Mr. Greene, and Serena had thrown him completely off, but no one had died or broken his heart or anything of the sort to warrant crying. He grumbled after the next sniff, adding this experience to the list of things Andrew must never know.

To counteract the case of sniffles he seemed to be getting, Darien turned on his radio and began to search for rock music to blare. Though this distracted him from driving more than he should have allowed on such a dreary day, something still managed to catch his attention from his peripheral vision. Glancing up, he saw a mess of blonde hair huddled in the corner of the bus shelter.

Darien's hand immediately came up to grip the steering wheel tightly with the other, and he began to slow down as the corner approached. He knew he should just drive past her; she'd never know it was him, and he could spare himself a few minutes of torture. The way she was sitting, though, suggested she was scared. Serena was a ray of sunshine, and he could easily imagine her being afraid of storms. Darien took a right at the corner.

Was he really going to subject himself to being alone with Serena, albeit for a short period of time? After trying to divert her attention from him, this would be sending the wrong signal. He certainly didn't want Serena to hate him, but he was fairly certain that he wanted her to stop liking him. Right? He turned the second corner.

----------------

Serena watched as the red car slowed and came to a stop in front of her. It had just driven by, and she'd seen it slow down. She so needed some creep to hit on her to improve her day. Had she been less upset, she had rolled her eyes. Instead, she pressed her face into her knees for a moment.

The door was thrown open. "Serena!" Darien called, "Get in!"

Serena lifted her head. At first, she could only stare. She wondered if she was getting somewhere. The jerk was being nice, an interesting change of pace. Then she realized that rain was soaking Darien's leather seats and that his face was starting to look a bit stormy, too. She leapt up and dashed to the car, slamming the door behind her.

"Thanks for that," Darien grumbled. "Though I'm sure you're equally good for my seats, considering that you're just as wet." Okay, he knew that he meant her clothes, but that last word was one of those he should not think about in the any sentence involving Serena.

Serena turned to speak to him as she put on her seatbelt. "You--" she began. Lighting flashed across the sky, and she jumped, hugging her arms around herself.

The action made Darien realize just how scared Serena was. "I'm sure you've spent enough time with me lately, but at least my car is warm and dry," he teased, hoping the humor would calm her. He felt rewarded at her slight smile. "Where to?"

"Home," she told him, following her statement with directions. "I hope you don't mind a quiet ride." Serena slipped her shoes off and pulled her knees up to her chest and realized Darien was looking at her questioningly. "When I was little, my parents and I were driving through the mountains when a rainstorm hit. The area is known to have washouts; you can figure out the rest."

Darien's eyebrows drew together as Serena hid her face in her skirt. For all of him that wanted to dismiss this as another of Serena's childish habits, he could identify. Her fear hit him a little too close too home. He opened his mouth to tell her about losing his parents and immediately closed it with a shake of his head. The point was to put distance between them, not bring them closer.

When thunder crashed, he saw Serena's body twitch from the corner of his eye. Darien was hit with a strong desire to hug her to his chest and tell her everything would be okay. Instead, he gently put his hand on her shoulder.

Though the gesture surprised her at first, Serena couldn't help but lean into Darien's touch. The weight felt so reassuring. Had she not been focusing on not seeming too terrified, she would have wondered at whether it was touch or his touch that comforted her.

Realizing that Serena seemed soothed, Darien opted to keep his hand in place. Quickly, he realized that the way he had contorted his shoulder was uncomfortable, so he slid his arm around her more fully.

At the feeling of Darien's fingers softly stroking her upper arm, Serena's attention to her staying calm began to waver as her brain tried to process the situation. He had always been a complete jerk, and two days ago, he had implied that he didn't like her. Even though she felt she had seen through his attempt, this change of events did not follow. Darien didn't want anything to do with her, yet here they were. He was giving her a ride home, trying to ward off her fear and, contrary to usual, passing up an opportunity to tease her. Plus, she was fascinated by the feeling of his caresses.

"Is it this one?" Darien asked, the fingers on Serena's arm ceasing as he pointed out the window.

She raised her head. "No, up there a bit," she responded. "See the blue car?" As Darien obediently drove toward the indicated house, he pulled his arm away to grip the gearshift, and she missed the weight. "Darien," she began, turning to look at him.

Serena's use of his name got his full attention; it actually worried him for what he felt was good reason. Darien stared at her, his hand still on the shift.

"Thank you for being so nice. It really means a lot to me," she said quietly. Serena was completely sincere; even her friends had laughed at her fear on occasion.

She gave him a huge smile, and Darien couldn't help but smile back. "Well, I can hardly be an asshole all the time," he joked, trying to lighten the mood.

Serena laughed. "I find that somewhat hard to believe." After unfastening her seatbelt, she leaned toward him, planting a kiss on his cheek. "Really, thank you."

Despite not noticing the entire time she had been in his car, Darien became aware of Serena's body as she brushed against his arm. Then, watching her leap from the car and dash to her house, he couldn't help but appreciate how her white top hugged her chest and how her soaked skirt clung to her butt. "Dead kittens," Darien suddenly announced to the car, having noticed the trend of his thoughts. He failed to do anything to rid himself of the happy smile he wore to the Arcade.

AN: See the AN added to Chapter 1 for more information about the story. Sorry about the long delay; please don't hate me. I had a run in with a massive jerk. Talk about writer's block. Also, points if you noticed and/or were amused by the direct reference to the song in this chapter.


	8. Loose Talk in the Classroom

-1AN: Yeah. I opened this file yesterday and discovered it needed another paragraph to be complete. Sometimes I forget things for ridiculous stretches of time. My apologies. On the other hand, I believe there will be one more chapter (possibly two) to wrap up, and it will go a different way than expected. I'm also starting to look into rewriting Mental Connections.

Serena rushed into the high school building, heading for her classroom. Skidding to a stop outside the door, she opened the door as slowly as possible, hoping Darien wouldn't notice.

"Oi, Tsukino! Just get in here. I know that's you," the voice of Miss Haruna rang out.

Serena sighed and opened the door fully. "Good morning Miss H," she said dutifully as she dragged her feet toward her seat. This was detention for sure. And why hadn't Darien mentioned his departure from the school? Sure, they hadn't done much talking, but that was an important enough tidbit for him to bring up.

"That would be Mrs. Y, now." The woman smiled happily at Serena as the girl took her seat. She then indicated a name she had written neatly on the board: Mrs. Yazujani; some of the girls in the class giggled joyfully.

"Gee! That's great Miss-I mean- Mrs. Y! I didn't know you were getting married," Serena exclaimed. Maybe she could keep distracting her long enough to get out of it. Having the woman happy was definitely for the best.

"It's alright, Serena. You're not getting detention; I can't stay around here all day." She beamed at the class. A boy in the back of the room nudged another and made a face that clearly suggested that he knew why she was in a hurry to get home. "You stop that right now!" she shouted, suddenly losing her cheerful demeanor. Immediately there after, a serene look came back to her face. "Let's begin."

A few minutes later, a crumpled ball of paper landed on Serena's desk. Glancing around, she saw Brayden wave a well manicured hand at her. Serena unfolded the paper and had to bite back the words that wanted to come out of her mouth. The note was nothing more than a rather crude drawing of a man, whom she assumed was Darien, with his pants down and a girl featuring her hairstyle bent over a desk in front of him. She quickly hid the drawing in her bag and flipped the ho off.

Serena received several more drawings throughout the day of the badly drawn representations of herself and Darien in different positions. As she left class after the final bell, she couldn't help but dread coming back the following day.

----------------

Serena's spirits didn't improve by beginning her usual route to the Crown Arcade. Why were high school girls so mean and immature? Finding herself cornered by Mina unexpectedly certainly didn't help.

The other blonde suddenly grabbed Serena's elbow from behind. "Serena, you've avoided me long enough," Mina said, looking at the side of Serena's face with a stern expression. She burst into a smile as soon as Serena began to look sheepish. "What happened?" Her stage whisper was filled with excitement.

"Oh, you know, stuff." Serena paused, looking for a way to avoid the dressing-like-a-hooker conversation indefinitely. Besides, it seemed like things were different between she and Darien now. But maybe that was reading too much into it? "Darien gave me a ride home yesterday," she blurted.

"Really?" Mina squealed.

Serena sighed. Now that she had let the cat out of the bag, she wasn't sure that this story was much better. She began trying to think of ways to escape Mina.

----------------

The amount of flack that Darien caught from Andrew on Monday upon entering the Crown Arcade with a sappy look on his face had been practically unbearable. But today was another day. Now that he no longer had to spend his free time at the high school, Darien was free to go back to his routine of sitting at the arcade's counter, drinking coffee for hours; studying was preferable but optional.

Serena thanking him for rescuing her from the storm was a good change of pace. Rescuing might be a strong word, but everyone likes to play the hero, including Darien. He could get used to being nice to her. Given, that might make her hang around him more, a.k.a. tempt him more, but he had enough faith in himself to think he could be friends with her. A kiss on the cheek every now and again wouldn't hurt, right?

A sudden thought occurred to Darien. What if Serena's parents had been looking out the window? "They could hunt me down. I could go to prison!" The terror must have shown on his face because Andrew chose that moment to interrupt his thoughts.

"Doing okay there, buddy?" the blonde questioned. He poured coffee into Darien's cup.

Darien nodded. "Yeah, I was just contemplating the likelihood of Serena's parents hunting me down and sending me to prison." He grimaced.

Andrew chuckled at the possibility; he had met Serena's father once or twice, and he was fairly certain Kenji was willing to bend laws to protect his daughter. "So, you're back to waiting for her everyday?"

"What? I'm not waiting for Sere--"

Andrew interrupted him, "You just looked at your watch then at the door."

"Did I?" Darien didn't remember looking at either, but Andrew, despite all the teasing, wouldn't lie to him. He wondered at this. He had no plans to tease Serena or to go out of his way to do something nice for her. She was like a fixture of the Arcade.

Returning from serving a soda, Andrew leaned down next to Darien. "So are you going to sweep her off her feet and into another kiss when she gets here?" he teased.

"It was on the cheek!" he protested in a hiss. "Besides, it's not the best idea to go around kissing Lolitas in public." Darien wondered at this; he was uncertain if being willing to joke about Serena was a good or bad thing. It seemed to suggest that he was getting used to the idea of them together. He stomped that thought down.

Andrew rolled his eyes. "Oh, please, Darien. It was just a kiss. Plus, you try to act like you're a 50-year-old man in comparison to Serena, but you're not. And Serena is definitely not 12." Here he waggled his eyebrows suggestively, but that was not what interested his friend.

"You've actually read uLolita/u?"

Though tempted to agree just to maintain the look of shock on Darien's face, Andrew explained. "Are you seriously asking me that? I saw a few minutes of the movie, got creeped out, and changed the channel." He paused as he intensely cleaned a spot on the counter. "Also, I read… stuff."

"How did you know she was 12?" Darien wondered.

"I wasn't creeped out enough to not look it up later." Andrew smiled jauntily.

With the question answered, other problems were able to come to the forefront of Darien's mind. "Regardless, one thing leads to another…"

"Bud, there's this little thing called self-control. Ever heard of it?"

Darien sighed. "I don't feel like it works around her. Plus, you know how I am." Here his mind began to conjure up every image of Serena it had recently imagined. He was very fond of the one with handcuffs. Things like that were exactly the problem.

"So figure out how to stop being such a perv, dumbass." He threw up his hands in frustration when Darien gave him a shocked look. "Darien, when you came in the other day, it was the happiest I've seen you for a long time. You can either have that by figuring yourself out, or you can just keep going around being Mopey the Dwarf all the time."

Darien immediately burst into laughter. "Really? Mopey the Dwarf?"

"Shut up. I was pressed for an analogy," Andrew muttered with a huge grin on his face. "Regardless, my point stands." He was saved from more explanation by the door opening, resulting in Darien's inevitable turn toward it.

Serena came up to the counter, plopped down on the stool next to Darien, and slung her book bag off and to the floor. "Hello," she said in what she hoped was a cheery voice. She turned her full gaze to Andrew. "Chocolate milkshake, please?" She gave a weary sort of smile.

Darien couldn't help thinking that something was a little off with Serena. "Hey," he said, nudging her gently in the side and giving her a small smile. "Is everything okay?"

Serena looked at Darien. She wanted to tell him that no, nothing was okay. He was thick and stubborn and didn't want anything to do with her as more than a friend. Her friends were nosy. The girls at school were vicious. She carefully schooled her features and gave him a smile in response. "Nothing a milkshake can't fix! Thanks Andrew." She promptly picked up her drink and headed for a Sailor V game.

Watching her walk away with the slight bounce she had to her step, Darien realized he was smiling. It wasn't a smirk of amusement; Andrew was right; Serena made him happy. At this realization, he tried to hold a straight face and looked down sheepishly. The path of vision lead his eyes to Serena's schoolbag, which she had dropped haphazardly and which was now spilling some of its contents onto the floor.


	9. Strong Words in the Staff Room

-1AN: Woo! Finally done. My apologies for the length of time this took, but I hope this chapter makes up for it. Also, I feel some people may not be satisfied with the ending, but I probably will not return to revise it any time soon.

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Darien bent to pick up Serena's schoolbag and gather the papers that had fallen out. As he straightened them, he saw the images that had been drawn. The circles on the top of the woman's head gave her away as being Serena. The man was him? His eyes widened as he crammed them back into the bag and strode with it toward the girl.

He bent down next to her and hissed in her ear. "Serena, we need to talk."

"What? I'm in the middle of a game…" she murmured. She kept her eyes glued to the screen, determined to ignore his proximity.

"Now." With that, he promptly grabbed her by the elbows, stood her up, and spun her to face him.

"Hey! What's your problem?" she demanded loudly, shrugging her arms roughly to free them from his grip.

A glance around the arcade showed Darien that he had an audience. He opted for a calm, whispered reply. "We are going to talk in the break room. I suggest you come along quietly. I'm not sure how these people would react if I threw you over my shoulder and carried you."

At this suggestion, embarrassment made Serena flush brighter than the anger that already tinted her face. Sure they had made up the day before, but that gave him no right to tell her what to do. And why would he say something that could be perceived as so sexual? She scowled at Darien, pushed past him, and stalked toward the door to the back.

Darien stared after Serena for a second. He had just gotten the death glare for some reason. He walked slowly toward the break room, trying to figure out just what he had done to upset her so much. He wanted to be her friend and having her angry at him prevented that, but it certainly made being just friends easier. "Hey, Andrew," he called. After meeting Andrew's eyes, Darien nodded toward the door as a silent way of telling Andrew what he was doing. He ignored Andrew's raised eyebrows.

As soon as Darien closed the door behind them, Serena rounded on him. "Who do you think you are, Darien? What makes you think that you can order me around like that? Like I'm just supposed to follow orders without question," she said angrily, her voice barely above a whisper.

Darien looked down at Serena's accusing finger, which was dangerously close to poking him in the chest. She was small, but her righteous anger seemed to make her fill the room. Then again, she always seemed to be the center of the room to Darien, so maybe that was his imagination. Rather than dwell, he pulled the papers from her schoolbag and tossed the bag aside. "Look familiar?"

Serena gasped and pulled the papers from his hands; she seemed to deflate immediately. "I meant to throw them away. They're just… I couldn't believe they… I didn't want anyone to see."

A frown formed on Darien's face. "Who did this?" he demanded. Compared to just a few moments ago, Serena seemed so small and helpless. He wanted to kiss the sad look off of her face, but of course, he wasn't going to do that. That would be giving in.

Just as quickly as her anger had dissipated, Serena's back straightened, and her mood righted itself. No way she would let those bitchy girls at school have power over her. She tore the pictures into several pieces and wadded them into a ball and walked over to throw them in the garbage can. "Who do you think?" Her tone was level, and she looked pointedly at him.

Darien suddenly realized the harsh tone he had taken with Serena; he regretted it. He had no reason to be angry at her, almost reproving. Clearly she was hurt by what her classmates had done. "Serena, I'm sorry. This is my fault," he began, moving toward her.

Serena's eyes narrowed. Why did she care about such a moron? Saying sorry about it didn't make her feel better. Despite her best efforts, she felt her anger toward Brayden redirect itself at Darien "No, it's not. It's my fault for being interested in a douchebag, like you." Here she actually poked him in the chest.

"Are you kidding? " Darien thought. He couldn't believe that Serena was actually angry at him again when he had just been empathizing with her. He glared back at her. "Oh, I'm a douchebag? I almost got fired because of you," he hissed.

"Because of me? Really, Darien? I think you mean you almost got fired because you couldn't keep your eyes off of my boobs," she growled, her finger punctuating the words with more prods.

Involuntarily, Darien glanced down at said feature. He noticed Serena's chest was heaving in her rage, and his mind conjured up the image of her clinging, rain soaked shirt. "Oh fuck," he sighed, closing his eyes; he knew she would call him out.

Serena smirked. "And you blamed me? Please. You're clearly not mature enough to keep yourself under control." She couldn't believe he actually looked down. Being friends with Darien would be nice, but he had just given himself away as to what he really wanted from her. She was totally the one in charge of this situation.

Self-control. Everyone was going on to him about self-control: his conscience, Andrew, and now even Serena. He knew he was lacking in the quality by how he kept getting himself into these situations with Serena. "Serena, I--" He abruptly stopped talking when he felt Serena's finger retreat to be replaced by her hand pressed to his chest. His eyes shot open.

"Wow." She sounded so casual, even though Serena felt like nervousness was oozing out ever pore. "Your heart is beating like mine during a rainstorm. You really don't like being told you have no self-control, huh?" Here, she unconsciously stroked his chest. "Do you feel like less of a tough guy? Or realize that you can't make me do whatever you want?" She rolled her eyes.

Self-control. Darien did need to have self-control; he had it, even if other people doubted it. He wasn't trying to tell Serena what to do. He wanted to talk to her seriously about the notes in her book bag. He had tried to explain that he regretted it, but she hadn't listened. She was acting like he was doing it to be macho or something. What was her problem?

"I'm sure if you ask Brayden, she'd do anything you asked," Serena commented coolly, drumming her fingers against his chest.

Darien stared at her, his eyes slightly lidded. Who needs self-control, really? His hand reached pressed hers to his chest for a moment before drawing it up to kiss each fingertip before placing a kiss in the palm. "Serena," he murmured, letting his lips brush her hand, "I have no problem getting you to do anything I ask."

Serena, who had been temporarily shocked by the tingles Darien was sending through her body, quickly regained her composure. She ripped her hand away from him. "Haven't you been listening, jerk? You don't want to have anything to do with me, so don't act like you have any claim or power over me," she jeered.

That stung a little. He had just promised himself that he would be nice to Serena, and here he was fighting with her again. But now he felt the need to remind her that she let him have power over her. Okay, and maybe to soothe the macho issues he may or may not have been having. Darien stepped forward into Serena's space; she stepped back. He was distantly reminded of the Bugs Bunny cartoons where a line was drawn, then crossed, and so on until someone fell off a cliff. The difference was that in their situation, the lines Serena drew allowed him to back her up into the break room's table. "Would you like to say that one more time?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow at Serena.

Serena felt cornered, which she figured was because she was trapped next to the table with Darien between her and the door. This was decision time. Was she going to continue her new plan of just being friends? Or go all in and get the original prize. She took a deep breath. "You don't want to have anything to do with me."

"When have I ever given you the idea that I don't want anything to do with you?" Darien responded. Repeatedly in the last week, he told himself, but he wasn't letting that stand in his way. He leaned nearer to Serena, one hand reaching down to run gentle circles against the outside of her thigh.

"Quite a lot, and don't pretend you do now." Serena hoped she was holding steady. It was kind of a hard feat with the tiny circles on her leg moving inward and upward, under her skirt.

Darien allowed himself to grin at her. "Do I seem to not want anything to do with you now?"

Hopefully the scoffing noise she made was believable. "You're the one who said that two people don't have to like each other to fuck."

Darien's eyes widened, which he hid from Serena by lightly licking her earlobe. How was it that she constantly had him off guard? He knew he was going to hate himself for that remark. Now his mind was going to the place it conjured up. "That was then, this is now. Tell me the rest, Serena." He pulled back to peck and nibble her lower lip.

After he pulled away, she repeated, "Don't act like you have any claim or power over me." She was trying to ignore the constant circles and that his other hand was slowly but steadily working its way up her ribcage.

Darien felt crazy. He had been working against this, but it felt so good to just give in. If he was honest with himself, he liked this new type of banter he was having with Serena so much more. "Tell me again." Bending lower, Darien lightly kissed her neck.

Serena felt her breath hitch in her throat. "Don't act like you have…" She paused as Darien's hands slid down to grip her thighs. "Any claim…" She gasped here as she was lifted to sit on the table. "Or power…" The hands on her thighs kept them in place, allowing Darien to move between them. Her heart was hammering. "Oh God… over me." The kisses at her neck had turned to soft bites, which retreated at her words.

"Serena, I think you're lying," Darien chided with a slight laugh. He pressed himself forward, enjoying the friction against the zipper of his jeans but longing for more. His fingers traced along the edge of her panties to her inner thigh, stopping there. "Would you like to confess?"

Looking up at him with darkened eyes, Serena shook her head. Her hands slid down from his back and into the back pockets of his jeans. She admired the firmness under her hands as she drew him forward and trapped his hand between them. She arched up into the contact but still ground out her answer, "Never."

A wolfish smile graced his face. "I'm happy to hear that." Darien slowly withdrew his hand, leaving endless tingles in its wake; it moved back around her leg to pull her closer. He delighted in the little moan she made. How he would love to hear more of them. With a grip on her legs, Darien pressed hard against Serena, who rewarded him with a louder moan. Perfect.

With the way his kisses were clouding her senses, Serena was proud she had the presence of mind to pull up his shirt and slide her hands under it. His chest felt so much more wonderful bare than through the fabric. Serena wanted to return the shivers he was giving her; she tried to mimic him by nibbling at his neck. Her hands in motion the whole time, taking in the smooth planes of his chest and abs, she found an adorable trail of hair on his stomach that she couldn't help but stroke repeatedly.

Too much. Darien physically threw himself away from Serena and strode to the door. This was not good. Not now, not here. He needed to clear his head before figuring this out. Wasn't he trying to avoid this? To his surprise, the door was held shut by Serena's hand being firmly planted against it.

Serena pulled his arm to turn him around. The fact that Darien was trying to walkout on her caused her to shake off the haze quickly. "No, Darien. I'm not going to allow you to continue running away from this like… like some little boy scared because a girl on the playground wants to kiss him."

Darien stared blankly at her. Did Serena just call him a little boy? Serena was the young one in the room, not him. Some of his recent actions could certainly be considered rash and juvenile. This thought led him to consider his other actions toward her: teasing, name-calling, everything a five-year-old would do. Clearly age did not automatically bestow wisdom or maturity. Had he attributed the negative traits to Serena solely because of her youth? Maybe she was actually interested in something real with him. Maybe he wasn't the schoolgirl crush he explained himself as to Andrew.

"Hello? Anyone home in there?" Serena asked, snapping her fingers before his eyes.

Okay, maybe not. Darien made a move to open the door again. He really couldn't do this with Serena of all people. The exasperated sound Serena emitted gave him pause. He stared at her.

"Are you kidding me?" Serena grumbled. She promptly seized a fistful of his jacket and pulled his face down to hers. Her lips ghosted against his with everything she said. "Get over yourself. I am mentally way older than you. I mean, you call me Meatball Head. What more proof do you need?" With that, she kissed him roughly.

* * *

When Serena and Darien emerged arm in arm, everyone in the Arcade seemed to notice immediately. Serena blushed at the attention. The couple was immediately accosted by Andrew.

"So, bud, you're going to set me up with your entertainment system, right?" the man asked Darien, whose only response was a huge grin.

In a booth across the way, as Mina and Lita high-fived each other, Amy nudged Raye with her elbow. "Pay up. I warned you that I always win bets."


End file.
